On the road again!

Well, we finally left on our great adventure to Alaska. Just the trip getting there will be exciting - at least, we're hoping so! We've already crossed two thresholds - our good ol' truck passed the 100,000 miles mark. For a 5 year old, that's not bad! Now, if Ian keeps on doing what he's doing with the engine upkeep, it should still be running strong for another 100,000 miles. (I wonder where those 100,000 miles will take us.) The other milestone met the same day, was we paid more than $4.00 for a gallon of diesel!! Yesterday in Missouri, we got off the expressway to find two gas stations across the street from each other. One advertised diesel for $4.18 per gallon, and the other one was $4.03. It didn't take long to decide which one to patronize, although at that point, who's really counting any more? It's gotten beyond ridiculous, but thank goodness Ian played Santa and I subbed to put aside gas money!

We left Birmingham a few days later than planned, due to the storms in the mid-west, then the big one that came through Birmingham. When we finally pulled out of Yvonne's property Sunday, there were plenty of tears between the waves (and, in the distance, I think we heard some sighs and "Finally, the trailer trash is leaving the neighborhood!" from the neighbors). Origninally, our first stop was to be in Clarksville, TN to visit an old high-school friend of mine. We hated to pass her by, but since we already were behind schedule, we had to fly right on by. That night (Sunday) we spent at a campground in Missouri, then got as far as Kansas City, MO on Monday. When we left this morning, we purposely drove out of our way about 5 miles so we'd go into the state of Kansas - now we can legally add Kansas to the map of where we've been with our 5th wheel. Today (Tuesday) we got to Offutt AFB (Omaha), NE, where our god-daughter lives. Her husband is deployed for 5 months, so we get her and her 3-year old all to ourselves for a few days. As soon as we got set up in the campground, they came over and spent the afternoon with us. This is a very nice campground, on a little lake. It's still early in the season, so we pretty much had our pick of sites, so chose one that allowed us to back in so our large back window overlooks the lake. Other than just seeing Melynda and little Matthew, our excitement (or horror, actually) took place while Ian was out buying beer (no, he's not drinking any more; no less, either)(groan, groan, I know) Melynda saw it first and I just caught sight of the mouse's tail as it went into the vent in the floor. Now, I love animals, but I really get the creepy crawlies from rodents, I don't care how little or young they are. We had this one's brother or sister in the living room last night. Mac alerted us of it, then we spent the next 45 minutes with me screaching, "There it is, get him, get him!" while Ian was throwing the chairs over, pulling the couch from the wall, yelling at me to stop yelling, the whole while the little black thing taunting us by running back and forth, under and around anything he thought we couldn't see him under or behind. Finally, he cornered himself in the kitchen, so Ian covered him with a towel and threw him outside. Phew, we thought, that's the end of him! That was, until Melynda spotted the critter's sibling. Of course, he didn't show himself again 'til later after Melynda and Matthew had gone home and Ian and I were just settling down to watch Dancing With The Stars. Well, I was; Ian was headed for a nap in his chair. Suddenly, Mac is running around as if something nipped his rear end, so I knew the critter had returned. Someone hit the "rewind" button from last night, so here we go again, although I tried to keep the screaching to a minimum, Ian actually jumped when I pinched his back and said "gottcha," and eventually the mouse got cornered under the computer desk, Ian got him with the towel again, and threw him outside. I don't know how many more brothers and sisters are in the duct system, or wherever they're hiding, but I hope they realize the trailer in the next site has much better food than we do!

Mac has been real quiet in the truck, but that's nothing new since he's afraid of the noise of the engine, the tires, the radio, the leather under his paws, my cell phone playing "Proud Mary," the GPS yakking at us to make a legal u-turn, Ian's sneezing and coughing, my Diet Coke can popping, etc., etc. I think he's a bit depressed, too, missing Yvonne's three dogs. They really taught him how to be a real dog, and a male dog at that! He's even doing his business on the strange grass at the rest stops and the campgrounds. And hunting - rodents, but that's more than he would have done a year ago!

Well, this is my first try at a blog. My brother and his wife are keeping one about their great adventure around the world in a sailboat (www.whereisbrickhouse.com), so I thought I'd give it a try. Ian and I aren't going around the world, and certainly not in a sailboat, but we're all living our dreams. Hopefully, I won't forget anything really interesting and mind boggling, such as our mouse adventure, but to just keep in touch with everyone and to have a record of our memories before our memory is shot! I'll really try to make an effort to write a few lines every day, as long as we have internet access. So, stay tuned and come along for the ride!!! Love, Ian & Kathy